Nintendo President Furukawa On The Company’s Stance Towards Remaking Handheld Games

Nintendo held their latest Financial Results Briefing this week, and the Q&A transcript has been released on Nintendo’s website in Japanese. One of the interesting questions from the investors was regarding the trend of remaking games that were originally on handheld systems, for the Nintendo Switch.

Here are the highlights translated below:

Q4. With the release of the Nintendo Switch Lite, I would like to ask about Nintendo’s thoughts towards software development in the future. During this term, software which are part of series that were developed on handheld consoles have been doing well in sales, so I’m wondering if that means that remakes based on games that originally released on handhelds are possible. The Nintendo Switch has higher specs, and new functionalities such as online versus, so wouldn’t there be a multitude of ways you can combine classic, nostalgic IPs with current hardware to create more ways to play? Please tell us what sort of software development is currently discussed at Nintendo.

Shuntaro Furukawa, President: “With the release of the Nintendo Switch Lite, there is a possibility to bring back titles that have previously been developed for handheld consoles. However, within Nintendo, rather than rereleasing past handheld games because of the Nintendo Switch Lite’s release, we are discussing more what sorts of new games we can create for the entire Nintendo Switch family. Within that, we are also considering past titles, but regarding what sorts of discussions are being held in detail, there is nothing I can say at present.”

Q6. Sales for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which released this term for the Nintendo Switch, are doing well. Also, Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, which released last term and were based on Pokemon Yellow, was a hit. How would you break down the great success of game titles that released on previous consoles, and were remade for the Nintendo Switch? There is also the upcoming releases of the Famicom Tantei Club series, so is the directive to release titles popular in the past proactively on the Switch?

Furukawa: “Regarding the future, there is no clear directive to release remade titles. On one hand, in our 30 years of game console business we have made many past games that have been played by a many people, which have left strong impressions on them, and this is a very valuable asset to our company. Nostalgia is one great appeal, but even in remake titles, what’s more important is to create new game experiences, fun, and more. More than anything, we believe that passion towards wanting to remake the game from the creator of the original game is very important. For a recent example, Link’s Awakening, which you previously mentioned, is a good example of a game that has been reviewed by customers as both ‘nostalgic’ and ‘new’.”